DETROIT – It has been a hectic start to the week for Detroit Water and Sewerage Department crews responding to around 40 water main breaks.
The spike was caused by the city’s prolonged dry weather and increased demand on the system.
First would be breakages which have caused homes to have no water, and it would likely take until the end of the week until it’s all fixed up.
Blame the 90-year-old pipes, 17 days without rain, and a higher-than-usual demand. If you add it all up, you’ll get 40 water main breaks throughout the DWSD system.
Dellise Cox hasn’t been able to take a shower in her home for five days. The fact that she’d maintained any patience at this point was impressive.
“I’m not even sure we can seriously have a measurement for it,” said Cox. “I just know that it has definitely been a trust testament to my will.”
Twelve crews were working around the clock to stop the water from flowing and, if needed, restore service to homes that had been affected.
That was the first priority. The repair depends on how bad the break was and if there were multiples.
“We’re going to investigate it and then file that as a water main break and then schedule a crew to come out and repair it,” said Bryan Peckinpaugh. “We will prioritize if someone was without water, and then we would do them first.”
Neighbors fear the fix would not hold as they’ve encountered the same problems since last week.